Contributor: Ben Kohn
Saturday night on Fox, we finally get a rematch of the first ever UFC Flyweight title matchup between champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and challenger “Joe-B Wan Kenobi” Benavidez. Their first matched was a high action, frenetically paced buzz saw of a fight with each man displaying their skills very well. Joe-B’s power and MM’s speed went to war and in the end; Johnson’s speed was victorious that day. Since then, Johnson has defended his Flyweight title twice, one against John Dodson in a fight that had the champion fight through adversity, and the other was a 5th round submission win over John Moraga in an absolutely dominating performance. Benavidez, since losing the title fight, has gone on a 3 fight winning streak with a decision over the tough Ian McCall, and 2 TKO’s over Darren Uyenoyama and Jussier Formiga. These two are the best Flyweights in the world and the question that remains to be answered is that between them, who really is #1?
Demetrious Johnson is considered by many to be the fastest fighter in the UFC. Even if he isn’t, he’s definitely in the top 3 for sure. Johnson’s style of fighting takes advantage of this attribute in every aspect of his fighting style. On the feet, his standup is about constant movement and stance switches, fast combinations and angles, quick leg kicks and constant knees in the clinch. His grappling is personified by this same style of movement, constantly trying to move to a better position, never giving a chance to rest for his opponents and always attacking with either ground and pound or submissions. His takedowns are executed with precision and he actually scored 5 takedowns against Benavidez in their first fight while stuffing all of Benavidez’s takedown attempts. Johnson is seemingly an extremely complete fighter but there are some flaws that have been exploited by his opponents before. The biggest issue that many fans have with Johnson is his lack of power and point fighting style on the feet. That’s a lot less of an issue with me because he has a much bigger one. He does not move his head. Johnson’s amazing recovery abilities allow him to take huge shots and be ok but he both Dodson and Benavidez dropped him in their fights (Dodson twice) but they both caught him because he just doesn’t move his head when striking or defending. We will definitely delve into that further but let’s take a quick look at Benavidez before that.
Joseph Benavidez is the number 2 Flyweight who many think could beat Johnson and establish himself as number 1. Since Alpha Male brought in Duane “Bang” Ludwig as their striking coach, there has been a stream of finishes by strikes from the team members and many now feel that this combination will get Alpha Male team members to win the championships in the lower weight classes. The biggest change that I see right off the bat is that Benavidez kicks a lot more since Ludwig joined and that’s a big improvement. Benavidez has always had power in hands but he demonstrated he has power in his legs with his TKO over Uyanoyama by body kick and punches. This added weapon to the toolbox will need to come in handy during the rematch. Aside from that, Benavidez’s punching style for the most part has actually changed a bit. Benavidez is very fast and powerful and also switches his stance a lot similar to Johnson. Benavidez used to have a very awkward style and his punches weren’t generally straight and crisp but rather come in from weird angles. Now, as demonstrated in his fight with Formiga, his punches have straightened out a lot and although he will still use those odd angles to get in unexpected punches, he has definitely tightened up his punching game a lot and has added kicking and punching together in his combinations too. His clinch is very tricky as Benavidez will spin in odd ways to get out of it if he is at a disadvantage and will even attempt throws that will put him on his back. His strikes in the clinch are mostly delegated to knees though so there’s isn’t much diversity there. His ground game though is absolutely scary when he’s on top. His ground and pound is ruthless and like all Alpha Male fighters, he has one hell of a guillotine. Overall, these two fighters are both incredible and this fight is seriously going to be amazing. I cannot wait for it to happen this Saturday on UFC on Fox 9. Change the channel to it…..with your remote.
The striking of Demetrious Johnson is just fun to watch because of his incredible speed. He is able to fire off combinations that are legitimately hard to follow because of how fast he is. But getting down to it on a technical level, I want to focus on the issues each have more than anything because the areas that they struggle in and who shored up these deficiencies are where this fight will be decided on. Let’s take a look at Johnson’s defense which to me has always been curious. Listen to any striking analyst and they will tell you there are 3 methods of avoiding a punch or kick. The most common is to block it or intercept the punch and that includes parrying as well. The second way is to use head movement and slip incoming punches or other strikes. The third way is using footwork to avoid being in the place where the strike is intended to land on. This is 
most important after a person finishes their combination in order to avoid getting countered or has to deal with return fire as angling off after throwing a strike or combination should be a key skill in any fighter’s toolbox. Johnson is really good at using the forearm block to deflect incoming punches and works incredibly well against the wide hooks that Benavidez is known for. He is also really good at using footwork and angles to get out of the way of incoming strikes so that he doesn’t have to block or move his head. The problem he consistently displays is a complete and utter lack of head movement. This is actually the reason he gets dropped (see Dodson and Benavidez 1 fights). Dodson was able to drop him twice because of this complete lack of head movement and the big one that he hurt him with, his back was almost turned with Johnson looking away and his chin hanging out begging to be cracked. Benavidez took advantage of this lack of head movement in their first fight. He charged in with a leaping left hook but once again off of an awkward angle. Johnson began to throw a rear leg roundhouse kick and Benavidez cracked him because Johnson never brings his head offline. This sever flaw in his game needs to be corrected because he cannot keep relying on his amazing recovery abilities against big hitters like Dodson and Benavidez.
Benavidez has really looked fantastic in his last three fights and two of those fighters he fought are top guys in the division and were both formerly considered the number 1 Flyweights at one point (Ian McCall and Jussier Formiga). The problem is that because of the fact that he has looked so good, it’s been hard to really find many flaws in his game, especially in his last fight with Formiga although I will try and point out a few things I did notice. Benavidez’s addition of lots of straight punches is really good but one of the issues I noticed is that he doesn’t bring his head offline on the straight punches. On his hooks, he does a very good job of getting out of the way of return fire but his straight punches, although really effective against someone like Formiga who is nowhere near as fast as either Benavidez or Johnson, may be able to be countered on by Johnson. Another issue I had with his striking is that his wide weeping hooks will end up with him getting tied up in the clinch. Against a fighter like Formiga who is a ground specialist, it was a poor choice to make to throw those kinds of hooks so close to him and risk getting taken down or dragged to the ground which was the only place Formiga had any sort of chance. Against Johnson, who we know can take down Benavidez; he needs to keep the distance as much as he can to avoid the clinch where, although they are even striking wise, Johnson has the advantage in being able to get Benavidez on his back.
We’ve covered their weaknesses but let’s talk about their strengths for a moment before moving to the ground game which is fairly straightforward. Johnson is a frenetic point fighter when his opponent is not hurt. I know some people may be upset about that but it’s true. Many of the strikes he throws and lands are not damaging at all and are meant to score points with the judges. The thing is, he does have power when he puts his weight into the shots he throws and some of the shots he hit Dodson with really had him buzzed, especially the knees. So the fact that Johnson has the ability to hurt his opponent when they are either tired or can’t match his speed makes him all the more dangerous. If Johnson needs to avoid getting hit, he can dart in and out with ease, cutting angles very well on his attacks and landing blisteringly fast combinations. His constant stance switching gives him even more options than the average fighter and can confuse his opponents as well. On top of his excellent offensive punching skills (at least to land them), he also uses his leg kicks very effectively so he is extremely diverse on the feet as well. His quickness and speed combined with his diversity make him a serious threat on the feet, especially when he actually throws with power. As good as he is though; he is also not very flashy at all. He will generally not throw anything like spinning shit, flying knees, or standing elbows from range. His fundamentals are solid and sound and that’s what matters most is that he can do virtually everything on the feet. Demetrious Johnson really is an amazing fighter.
Benavidez as talked about already is probably one of the top 3 power punchers at Flyweight but he has now added more diversity to his striking (which he sorely needed) as well as a grasp of how to mix his diversity together very well. His usage 
of kicks and straight punches are not separate weapons that he can’t flow into his game but rather he seamlessly has learned to mix them all together as a cohesive and dangerous attack that has already floored two very good Flyweights in Uyenoyama and Formiga. The question is whether or not he can accomplish the same thing against a much better opponent in Johnson. Benavidez demonstrated the perfect mix of these strikes together. He began with a left straight and right hook, both of which were to the body, and got him to drop his hands. After, he followed with a left straight and right hook which wobbled Formiga badly. Finally, he came in with a massive stepping knee that dropped Formiga and he finished him with hard ground and pound.
Benavidez mixing his strikes together so well is extremely important on catching Johnson as he did in his last fight. He needs to get Johnson to drop his hands in a similar way that he did with Formiga and his kicks can help him do that. Because Johnson doesn’t move his head and uses the forearm block style, by getting him to drop his hands, Benavidez opens up Johnson to a big punch that could turn the fight in his favor. Johnson on the other hand needs to never stand in front of Benavidez, constantly move, and make sure to stop moving straight back on incoming charges. The only times he should move back is when he is intending to hit his step back counter straights which are very effective for him. He needs to also work to get in the clinch and shoot for takedowns to keep Benavidez honest and possibly stifle his kicking game. Overall, these two fighters are so evenly matched but based on their previous fight and Johnson’s speed; I will give the slightest of edges to Johnson in striking.
Clinch and wrestling are really something that is hard to find much to say about. Johnson is the better wrestler and he has already proven that in all of his fights. Benavidez is a great wrestler and definitely has the strength advantage but Johnson’s speed on his shot takedowns and clinch takedowns too are just too much to be able to stop. It really is beautiful to watch a 
man blast in so fast that he gets his opponents down before they can even react at all. While Benavidez is no slouch at all in the wrestling and clinch department and is one of the best in the division, he struggled to stay upright against Johnson and was taken down 5 times out of 10 attempts. One of the reasons for this is that Benavidez will sometimes rush in head completely past his feet and hips overextending and he needs to show more control than that against Johnson. Overall, to me, it’s very clear that Johnson has an advantage over Benavidez in the wrestling and clinch situations and that can be huge factors come fight time. Edge in the clinch and the wrestling goes to Johnson.
Grappling is something that is interesting as each has their strengths on the ground. Benavidez is a ground and pounder with a wicked guillotine that he can slap on with constricting force that could put out a kangaroo. He is a beast on top and his win over Yasuhiro U. and the finish of Formiga illustrate that perfectly. Also remember when he took Miguel Torres’s soul? Johnson is a very different style of game though. While Benavidez is content to sit in the guard and bust up his opponent, Johnson is always working to advance his position, land a constant stream of strikes, and attacking for submissions whenever he can. His finish of Moraga especially impressed me as 
he listened to his coach (Matt Hume) who told him to look for the armbar when Moraga would defend the kimura. What happened was, Moraga defended the kimura a few times and was pulling it toward the inside of his body. To get the kimura, you must get the arm away from the body thus weakening the ability to stop the submission. However, when Moraga turned into Johnson while defending Johnson was able to step over and trap him not allowing Moraga to get his back towards the mat. Johnson spun trapping Moraga’s elbow so that when he dropped back, he already had a solid grip on the arm with the figure-4 hold and also had the elbow pinned and on his side not allowing him to turn back in before the elbow was trapped. After a few seconds of fighting, Moraga’s arm was fully extended and the tap elicited.
This kind of sequence is what makes Johnson more dangerous in a way. His coach saw something that was happening and told Johnson to exploit it, which he did, and the fact that it was in the 5th round of a title fight he was clearly winning every round of lets everyone know he’s not going to coast. Johnson’s guard passing and striking and sub combo are just as dangerous as Benavidez’s ground and pound but in a very different way. It’s very hard for me to pick either one of them to have an advantage on the actual ground but I am going to say Johnson’s more diverse game is just too much to ignore. Benavidez’s ground game can literally be summarized as a guillotine and ground and pound. It’s too simplistic against a guy who has already shown he can take you down. With an excellent top game that is threatening from multiple angles, I can’t say Benavidez is the more dangerous grappler, despite his power. Edge in grappling goes to Johnson.
I know that it may seem like I am saying that Benavidez can’t win by giving all the edges to Johnson but that is just not the case. I would be surprised in the slightest bit if Benavidez took this fight handily or even finished Johnson. Johnson has flaws 
that Benavidez can exploit and if he knocked out Johnson, I would only be mildly surprised considering the chin Johnson has displayed until this point. It’s just that Johnson is so damn good at doing what a champion should do and that is winning. Johnson is so well rounded and elite, that he has the ability to win this fight either on the feet or the ground and even when he is losing a fight on the feet, he is still doing well enough that he can’t be considered losing (unless he’s dropped). It seems that Johnson really just doesn’t lose rounds because he knows what he can do to win the round in a close one. This fight really will be an amazing fight in my opinion and I literally am antsy thinking about it right now. Both of these guys should have to fight each other exclusively until someone shows they have what it takes to beat either of them. Until then, I will enjoy the magnificence of what will happen Saturday night and bask in the glory that will be this five round championship thriller. With that being said, after careful consideration and analysis I have come to a conclusion.
Final Prediction: Demetrious Johnson by Unanimous Decision.
-Ben can be reached at [email protected] or @agentbenten.
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